Parenting - noughties style!

Its coming up to 7 weeks since the birth of our daughter, and even though we haven't perfected a routine a la Gina Ford, since I don't think I'm into her school of parenting, we have got into the groove of looking after Ayushi, albeit with a lot of help from my mom.

The first week I was at home, the idea of ever going back to Colombo to live in our own house, or more importantly ever leave my parents house again, seemed like an insurmountable task, but as I recovered from the c-section and got more used to my baby daughter the feeling that I couldn't even leave my bedroom did disappear.

Having a baby is a huge life-changing event (and I don't mean that in a bad way). However ready you think you are, or however much you really think you want the baby, whatever your reasons etc, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, not the websites (which there are hundreds of these days), or the umpteen books (Gina Ford vs. Attachment Parenting), prepares you for it.

That first night in the hospital, after M and my family left, it struck me that here she was, my baby daughter, and that I was solely responsible for her. Sure, the nurses were there with us (as I was a bit incapacitated with a catheter and the remnants of my anaesthetic), but it was still a daunting thought that I was responsible for this tiny little being, and that I had to keep her alive... I think I stayed awake listening to her breathe through the night!

This pattern continued on even after I had been discharged from the hospital, with M and I staying awake through the night, much of the first week since we'd get worried with every little noise that she made, but we soon learnt to sleep and wake along with her, and its amazing that I have been converted from someone who loves to sleep to someone who functions with no more than 2-3 hours of sleep at a stretch, how times have changed... but given the choice, I don't think I'd change things for anything...and as M and I keep telling ourselves, the sleepless nights are only a matter of a few more months...so for any of you thinking of having a baby - we'd definitely recommend it, but be prepared for your life to change forever ;-).